What Not To...

...Wear

I'm not Stacy and Clinton wasn't with me most of the day (like Renee was), but I really wish that they had both been here.

Renee and I experienced an alternate reality TV show (if there were cameras) version of "What Not To Wear [the Real World]" today as we put up posters and handed out postcards to advertise the upcoming Savannah Philharmonic performance of The Dream of Gerontius, and especially as we ate lunch outside at the Kayak Kafe.

I mean, holy cow, people. When did it become en vogue to sport clothes that scream "1980's white trash (or slob) takes on a serial killer going to a live rock show"? Seriously.

Unfortunately, I don't have pics to prove it, but Renee can vouch for what I'm writing in a broad, sweeping description. We experienced this, and not in small doses either. I pulled out my dorky "grandma" pack of travel tissues because I had already used my napkin to stop myself from snorfling (fluid out of nose) and accidentally giving Renee an iced tea shower on more than one occasion. And, this was just within the first 10 minutes of sitting down to lunch! I do not exaggerate.

I could, would and, I suppose, should list all of "the sites" that Renee and I experienced today -- boy, wouldn't that be fun -- but, it's already 1:30 AM, and I'm lazy (a.k.a. still hungry and my warm pizza is in the other room, so this post is getting cut short). So, just trust me when I say that today provided a "feast for the eyes," albeit an odd, multi-colored, misfit, undesirable feast. Locals and tourists of Savannah alike: Please, pretty please, grab a good fashion mag, buy a mirror & look in it, follow Chanel's rule of "remove one item," and think before leaving the house. We also have to live with what you wear.

[To be fair, I should acknowledge that as of late (har-hum, as in the past 4 to 5 years), my fashion sense has declined along with my desire to put an effort into how I look. So, I recognize that I am likely being hypocritical here. In my defense, however, even with this pathetic trend, I somehow manage to look fairly decent each day, even when I don't care at all how I look on a Saturday. Today, on a day when I put on "scruffy, old jeans" that I haven't washed in *cough* days and threw on a t-shirt, I looked so pulled together in comparison to those many people walking down the street in their confused, ill-fitting "clothes". I don't want to say that. Okay, I shouldn't, I suppose. But, I just don't get it.]

*Strings Attached & Full Disclosure: Needless to say, somehow, Renee and I usually share (in) entertaining and sometimes outright weird experiences whenever we're together enjoying a meal. It just happens. I think we've come to expect the odd and humorous, but the experiences never cease to amaze and amuse us.


...Say 

Gennette?
Juliet?
Apparently, I stink at saying my own name audibly. 
Hmm. Something to work on.
Albeit the listener had been drinking (very little, I suspect), he remembered my name as "Gennette".
He's not the only one.
So, perhaps instead of saying "Juli-ET", maybe I need to start saying it as some others do, like "JULi-et" which apparently is often how people hear and say Romeo and Juliet. I dunno for sure, but I'll give it a fighting chance.


...Do 

Apparently, it can be an insult to tell a seemingly almost perfect stranger that you recognize her. I didn't realize this was a social faux pas.  

The skinny: Let's say that you and I are sitting down at a restaurant to have lunch. The server - a nice looking, kind woman - comes to our table to take our drink order. [Okay. That's normal.] Once she leaves to check on other tables, we comment to each other that we must know her. She's so familiar, but neither of us can pin-point it. We just can't figure out how we know her. No big deal 'cause we'll just kindly say something and ask her, right? [Right.] Upon either/both of us saying something to the affect of "You look familiar," she promptly responds "I don't know you!" and proceeds to shift her weight away from us.

Now, call me old fashioned, uninformed, casual, weird or whatever else comes to mind [Really, go ahead. I don't care. Not really.], but don't you find this reaction -- and this server's conscious effort from this point forward to keep her physical distance from us and to merely and minimally tend to our needs -- a bit odd? I thought so. But, out of respect for people who see what I believe to be harmless and almost kind inquiries as something quite different, I will acknowledge just for today that this falls into the category of "What Not To Do." Having said that, come Sunday, October 3, I'm resuming in-full my kindly-intended and genuinely curious behavior and am warning anyone that I don't really know that if I ask you "Do I know you?" or say to you "Gosh, you look familiar to me," please [puh-lease] don't take offense. I mean, really. There are better things to do with your time and energy. I mean no harm. In fact, favor: laugh a little, huh? Thanks.